An Ebony Heart
by Authoress1001
Summary: Follow Ebony on her journey to freedom, relief, and sorrow. Observe her as she faces many challenges, falls in love, is hurt beyond belief, and learns to fear life.


Pale golden eyes blinked open to the gray and cloudy sky above. Ebony was lying on a slightly damp area of concrete, in a shadowed alleyway of the Twolegplace. The she-cat yawned and rose to her paws, gazing at her companions. She ran with a gang of cats among these streets, a gang that was feared and hated by everyone who knew of them. Wolf was still curled up against the red-brown brick walls of a building. His dark gray and rugged pelt matched the dirty pavement of the alley. Ebony prodded him gently in the side with a forepaw. "Wake up, Wolf. It is our turn to scavenge today."

The younger tom opened is dark yellow eyes and moaned. "But I hardly got any sleep! I had to patrol the streets with Arrow, and he made me do most of the work," he grumbled. Ebony shook her head and nudged him with her nose. "Don't complain," she warned. "Be grateful that Ripper has let us stay-and live- this long. You have to work to survive, remember? Come on, let's get moving." Wolf tilted his head and nodded, listening to her words. "Sis, you work harder than anyone here," his eyes narrowed, and he muttered, "Ripper shouldn't treat you the way he does, or any cat for that matter..." he trailed off as a dark red she-cat and a dusty brown tom walked past them.

Ebony flicked her tail and the two siblings padded out and away from the alley. Wolf sniffed the air, and so did she. She smelled a sort of tangy scent, mixed with a savory flavor that tantalized her. Her younger brother noticed this as well, and the pair scrambled across the street and down a few rabbit-leaps. They came to a colorful building that was mainly red and yellow. They weaved around a black pole that supported arches of a golden yellow color, and weaseled through a few bushes.

They walked a little faster as the scent drew nearer, and they came to a large metal box full of the smells. Ebony made a leap that rebounded her body off of the stone wall and onto the edge of the container. Wolf did the same, and they dived into the thing. It was full of boxes and papery sacks. The two sifted through these items, and they found a bounty of things. dark brown circles of meat that had a few bites taken from them (although that didn't matter, it was food), bite-sized nuggets of white meat covered with a smooth golden-brown pelt. Wolf had the idea of grabbing one of the sacks and putting their find in it, so that it would be easier to carry.

They only filled about a third of the sack with food, for in the bin there wasn't many edible goods. Ebony dragged the bag with her as they moved along, and they searched the streets some more. They found two more metal boxes, and stashed the goodies into the sack. Once they filled it about halfway full, they decided that it was enough. It was getting late, anyways. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. Oh, it was a day's hard work for the siblings, but it was necessary for their survival.

Wolf and Ebony arrived to the alley that their gang resided in and set their bounty down. A ragged dark brown tom approached them, his pelt mottled with specks of black. He had orange, burning eyes that seemed to pierce you with a single glare. He had long, thick legs and a muscled build. His tail was whip-like, lashing like a striking snake. He had many scars, slashes, and rips. This cat as the leader of their gang, and his name was Ripper.

Ebony bowed to him, crouching with her head low, and her brother did the same. The strong tom lifted his head with pride, and parted his jaws. "Wolf, Ebony," he meowed in his deep, flat voice. "You have brought food. We will eat well tonight. Go and wait your turn, and you will get your share when it is time." Ripper waved his paw, signaling the two cats to dash away. He clenched the sack in his jaws and brought it deeper into the alley. He let out a yowl, and cats lined up before him.

Only a small selection of the gang were in line, three of them. They were Ripper's henchmen, the ones who kissed up to him to keep their haunches safe. They followed his every command blindly, and he rewarded them for it. There was Isis, a pure white she-cat with deep green eyes, Barker, a tawny tom with shining brown eyes, and Flash, a ginger tom with blue eyes like dark pools. They each got a small share of the food, and then they dispersed to chow down.

When it was time to receive their share of dinner, Wolf and his sister stepped up to Ripper, avoiding eye contact. He tossed Ebony two of the small, round nuggets of meat that had come from the red and yellow building. Wolf was given a chunk of pink meat that was marked on one side with charred crossed lines. The. two moved off with their dinner, huddling together in the shade of a brick wall. They ate in silence, and Ebony's fur prickled when she saw Ripper gorging himself with the food he'd kept from the others. It was quite a lot, he probably kept half of the food he had given! That selfish, foolish, brute of a cat! she thought.

After eating, four cats slithered off into the darkening sundown. It was the street patrol. They would return. only a few hours before morning activity began. Ebony curled around her brother protectively, and he soaked up her warmth and purred. She closed her pale gold eyes and her mind retreated into the deep, silent darkness of sleep.

(Sorry about the short chapter. I'll try to make them longer in the future.)


End file.
